Dogs have some interesting and unusual quirks that can display themselves at odd times, without any apparent explanation from the perspective of their owners.
If your dog suddenly starts doing something that it has never done before and you don’t know what has triggered this behavior, you might be a little concerned, and not sure what to do to stop it.
Protective behavior, while cute, can be particularly problematic and challenging to deal with, because you know your dog has your best intentions at heart.
Have you ever had to ask “why does my dog protect me from my husband?” because your dog seems intent on getting between you and the man that you married?
This can be a difficult situation that may cause your husband to feel hurt and you to feel confused, and it isn’t great for the dog either – because it will be stressed by someone who is constantly around you.
It’s important to look for a resolution to this problem, especially if your dog is very anxious about this.
Often, a dog’s behavior will stem from an experience that it has had in the past, but this won’t always be the case, so if your dog is trying to protect you from your husband, it doesn’t mean that anything bad has happened.
Your dog may be wrongly interpreting signals that your husband is sending, or may just not want anybody close to you, regardless of who they are.
Why Does My Dog Protect Me From My Husband?
There are a few reasons that your dog might attempt to protect you from your husband, and unless your husband has displayed any threatening behavior that could explain this, most will stem from the dog’s sense of insecurity, rather than anything that your husband is doing wrong.
You may find that your dog protects you from your husband because your husband seems stressed (which transfers stress to your dog), because your dog feels it has to guard its resources (especially if you are the person who feeds the dog), or because your dog is jealous that you hug, kiss, and talk to your partner.
Dogs are very in tune with the emotions of the people around them, so if your husband is exhibiting any negative signals, your dog might feel it needs to protect you, especially if it detects that you are also upset.
This does not mean that your husband is doing anything that would warrant the protection; it just means that the dog is misreading the situation, and wishes to keep you safe.
Your dog might also protect you because it mistrusts your partner, whether fairly on unfairly, and does not feel safe with your partner being close to you.
If you are usually the one who walks, feeds, brushes, bathes, and otherwise deals with the dog, it may not share a close bond with your husband, and in this case, it may try to keep you apart.
If My Dog Protects Me From My Husband, Does It Mean I’m Pregnant?
There is a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that dogs become more protective of their owners when they are pregnant, and it certainly seems likely that a dog will be aware if you are pregnant, because they are intuitive animals with a superb sense for hormonal changes.
They are thought to have a sense of smell that is more than 10,000 times better than that of humans. Your dog may therefore become more protective of you if you are pregnant, but protectiveness does not automatically mean that you are pregnant.
If you think you are pregnant, you should take a proper test, and it’s best not to make too many assumptions about your dog’s behavior, even if you get a positive and it does seem to be more watchful than usual.
There is no hard science to demonstrate that dogs become more protective when their owners are pregnant, although this may change in the future.
It’s worth noting that any protectiveness that does revolve around pregnancy is likely to be directed to others, too. Your dog will not just be wary of your husband’s presence, but may view anyone approaching you as a threat, and choose to get between you in an effort to keep you safe.
How Can I Stop My Dog Protecting Me From My Husband?
Protectiveness may be cute, but it is not behavior that you should encourage, even in its early stages. Laughing or rewarding your dog will encourage it to escalate such behavior, and reinforce its idea that your husband could be a threat.
You will need to start proving the opposite, and often, this can be done by helping your dog to bond with your husband so that a trusting relationship is established.
Get your husband to walk, feed, play with, talk to, and interact with the dog as much as possible.
Encourage your husband to speak more softly when the dog is around so he does not accidentally startle it, and do not rough house around your dog, especially if it is already anxious.
Dogs can easily misinterpret playful wrestling or punching as real fighting, and may try to intervene on your behalf.
It’s also a good idea not to let your husband tease the dog; while it may be in good fun, all of these little annoyances can build up into a dislike that will stop your dog from trusting your husband or wanting to be around him.
Instead, talk to your husband about playing gently and building bonds with the dog.
Conclusion
If you’ve been wondering “why does my dog protect me from my husband?” you hopefully now have an answer that will let you move forward and start addressing the problem. Ensure that your husband is treating your dog with respect and shows you respect around the dog, and consider putting the dog in another room if you need to have a discussion that involves high emotions, so the dog doesn’t get wound up by these. Plenty of bonding time will also help to reduce protectiveness, because your dog will start trusting your husband.
